Union’s local president reacts to details of tentative deal with Canada Post

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The postal workers’ union’s local president feels the announcement of the details of a tentative deal has more layers than what appears on the surface.

Babe Seguin, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) local 738 president serving northeast B.C., spoke to Energeticcity.ca about the union’s tentative agreement with Canada Post. 

This is the latest which saw union members go on strike earlier this year amid a dispute over “huge cutbacks,” according to the CUPW.

Although an agreement was strongly hinted at last month, details surrounding the five-year deal surfaced on Monday, December 22nd in a press release issued by Canada Post. 

Its statement says two separate agreements, one for urban mail carriers and one for rural and suburban mail carriers, were made. 

Details included reveal the following: a six-and-a-half per cent wage increase for both urban and rural mail carriers, followed by a three per cent rise in year two, with subsequent increases matching the annual inflation rate.

It also includes increased health benefits, flexibility around weekend work, more personal days and enhanced and maintained job security provisions for urban workers.

However, Seguin believes load levelling  – or balancing mail workloads by reassigning mail on delivery – was not discussed in the deal.

“The fact that they’re going to not do the load leveling, those types of things, that will be the highlight for the letter carriers,” said Seguin. 

“Our national executive board indicated they are recommending a yes vote on it, but did not indicate it was a unanimous vote [on the board], which makes me believe there may be some dissension.”

While there was an honorarium keeping postal offices open, Seguin says one of the biggest points in the deal with urban letter carriers is the number of corporate postal offices protected will shrink to 393, suggesting 100 could potentially close.

One of the key reasons why Fort St. John postal workers remained on the picket lines throughout October was due to fears about rural offices around the region being shuttered.

“I don’t even know what the list will look like,” said Seguin. 

She says she will be on a regional Zoom call with CUPW representatives “within the coming days,” but she feels she will not encourage members to ratify this deal.

“I just don’t think there’s enough there,” said Seguin. “I don’t think there’s enough positivity in it, and without all the details, it’s hard to give a clear indication what it might look like.”

The deal, announced by Canada Post on Monday, December 22nd, is slated to expire in January 2029 – should it be ratified.